Quaking With Fear

Examples of Quaking With Fear include:

In many forms of media, there are scenes that express a character's fear, whether it be from heights, or from entering an abandoned mansion. It is worth noting that at times, those characters will, as a result, tremble. Though it can be considered on the note of serious terror, once the sound effect of trembling is implemented, or once you notice that characters are shaking in the most exaggerated way possible, it seems as though those scenes are there for comedic effect. As a result, characters will often joke about the other character "shaking like a leaf", with the portrayal of one's teeth chattering or knees banging together adding to the comic relief (most prominent in Scooby-Doo).

A common feature for a Nervous Wreck. Compare Security Cling.

Literature

• Planet of the Apes has this when Arthur Levain finds himself participating in a hunting drive with apes hunting men and women. Due to already being naked and vulnerable he finds himself chattering in fear until he snaps and runs before getting shoot.
• The Silk and the Song, has a few examples. Like when Alan having escaped a life a beast of burden to the alien Hussirs joined the Wild Humans. Though when he encounters a Hussir on a hunt with her companion Mara, he quivers in fear due to the ingrain fear of the alien master, feeling not as a free human but as disobedient member of the herd, where death awaited him for his escape from the fields. And then when Mara just having to strip naked to avoid being captured by the Hussirs is trapped in their city with Alan tries to exit the city, only to end up in its center. She tremors at the thought of risking her skin to walk naked and vulnerable in enemy territory.

Western Animation

• The 3-2-1 Penguins! episode "Moon Menace on Planet Tell-a-Lie"'s musical segment told the story of Galaxy Gus. When high noon was approaching and the town of Gamma Gulch ran off. Galaxy Gus starts to shake in his boots, chatter his teeth and bite his gloved hand as the outlaw Honcho Villa approaches him for a showdown.
• "Camp Lakebottom": Gretchen's legs shake in 2 episodes. From fear in Cheeks of Dread, and from the cold in Undies Cover of the Night.
• In the Daffy Duck cartoon "What Makes Daffy Duck", Daffy's legs tremble in quick succession when hiding from duck season.
• Danger Mouse: In "Where There's a Well, There's a Way," DM and Penfold are traversing a dark cavern when DM hears some rapid knocking. Penfold (as he describes as it's pitch black except for the heroes' eyes) lowers his head and the knocking stops. He's got his head between his knees to keep them from knocking together.
• In the 1938 short "Ferdinand", everyone is afraid of Ferdinand, and the matador is portrayed with his knees knocking against each other.
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: In the episode "Crushed", Mandy has an Out of Character moment of falling in love, including sweaty palms and weak knees.
• In Growing Up Creepie, best friends Carla and Melanie's legs shake while being frightened in Creepie's house in the episode "Night of Fright".
• Hazbin Hotel:
  • "Dad Beat Dad": After Alastor nearly goes all-out and threatens Husk with a Fate Worse than Death for knowingly pushing his Berserk Button, Husk is left on the floor visibly shaking in fear.
  • "Hazbin Hotel: Behind Closed Doors": After Charlie finishes screaming at Emily's news, she sits still on the couch for a couple seconds, legs shivering with nerves.
• The Huckleberry Hound Show: In one episode, Huckleberry Hound takes the role of a lion tamer. The narrator states that once the lion notices any sign of fear in the lion tamer, it starts to make its pursuit. Consequently, the camera pans to Huck's knees knocking together.
• Andy from Maya & Miguel experiences this when he tries to hit on Esmeralda in the episode "The Letter.
• Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse: In two episodes of the show, the titular main character, Marvin The Tap Dancing Horse, had moments where his knees were knocking. Those episodes are Marvin's High Dive, and Stripe's World Tour.
• Mickey Mouse: Mickey's legs are shown shaking on multiple occasions in the 1929 "Haunted House" episode.
• Monica's Gang: There are a few moments where the characters will shake in fear. One of the most notable is with Monica herself. In the episode, Courage Ring, she has a crush on a boy she likes, but gets visibly nervous when she sees him. When her best friend, Maggy, pushes her closer to the boy, her knees start shaking and she stutters, not knowing what to say.
• Mr. Men and Little Miss: At the end of the episode Little Miss Shy Goes To The Fair, an owl spooks both Little Miss Shy, and Mr. Quiet, and their legs shake in fear.
• The Mr. Men Show: In a lot of Mr. Nervous' appearances, he is shown as anxious, nervous, scared, and whenever that happens, his knees start shaking.
• Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic tends to get in a nervous wreck where she trembles, hence her name.
• PAW Patrol: In Tracker Joins The Pups, Skye, Rubble, Tracker and Carlos hear a knocking sound. Then it's revealed that the sound was coming from Marshall, whose knees were shaking.
• Pixel Pinkie: In the season 1 episode, "Dare to Be Scared", Emily, Nikki, and Suzi's legs were shaking due to the haunted house.
• In the Porky Pig cartoon "The Case of the Stuttering Pig", Porky tells Petunia that he's not afraid, as the camera cuts to a close-up of his shaking knees.
• The Raggy Dolls: Lucy, just in general. Whenever she gets scared, she either falls into pieces, or her knees start knocking.
• In the episode "The Boy Who Cried Rat" of The Ren & Stimpy Show, Mrs. Pipe stands on top of a couch with her knees shaking because of her fear of mice.
• Scooby and Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. It's so prominent in the series that the theme song of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! notes that we can see how Scooby shakes and shivers.
• Tom and Jerry: Tom's knees bang together from behind the blankets while being told a scary story in the episode "Fraidy Cat".
• Mandy from Totally Spies!. The camera focuses on her knees knocking together when she is afraid to perform in front of a crowd in the episode "Black Widow". She was shaking in her boots!
• Vicky the Viking: There are many moments when a character's legs would shake, usually from fear, and always from the male characters.
• Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!: In "Wubbzy in the Woods", when Wubbzy ends up getting lost in the forest, he shakes in fear when he thinks he hears the sounds of dangerous forest creatures.